Chapter 1: Adolescent Development in Today's World

demographic profile of adolescents

developed countries: wealthy, individualistic, non-traditional, more access to resources, they represent only about 20% of the world population, 1.3 billion, the most affluent countries worldwide as classified by the organization of economic cooperation and development (OECD) including U.S., Canada, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, and most European countries in developing countries: less wealth, but experiencing rapid economic growth, collectivistic, traditional, less access to resources, represent about 80% of total world population, 6.3 billion, according to the U.N., nearly 50% are younger than age 25, compared to less than 30% for developed countries

globalization

world is becoming “smaller” and to some extent more homogenous, due to increased connections in trade, travel, technology, and leisure, adolescents are experiencing increasingly similarly environments, young people are becoming more bicultural in their identities

individualistic values

developed countries - independence and self expression

collectivism

developing countries - obedience and group harmony

traditional culture

rural culture that adheres more closely to historical traditions and is more collectivistic

income and education differences

40% of world’s popular lives on less than 2$ per day, 80% of world’s population lives on a family income of less than 6,000$ per year, with Africa remaining the poorest region in the world, in developed countries, nearly 100% of children are afforded a primary and secondary education; 50% go on to college or vocational school, in developing countries, 80% children attend primary school but only half advance to secondary school; college is for the rich

majority culture

cultural group in each country that sets the norms and standards and holds most of the political, economic, intellectual, and media power

minority culture

cultural group whose members share characteristics such as ethnicity, religion, or language

research bias

human development research tends to focus on universal principles and ignore culture, most adolescent development research has focused on 20% of the world’s population, especially the 5% living in the US, there has been a shift in the research to be more inclusive of all cultures and recognize the importance of culture in development

contexts

settings and circumstances that contribute to variations in pathways of development including family, peer groups, school work, media, civic and religious institutions

SES

education level, income level, and occupational status

gender

cultural beliefs and role expectations about what it means to be a boy/girl, man/woman

ethnicity

cultural or geographic origin, cultural traditions, race, religion, and language

sub saharan africa

challenges to physical health, tradition is important ,birth rate is high

North Africa and the Middle East

muslim religion is predominant, patriarchal authority, cultural belief in the absolute authority of the father over his wife and children, globalization is having an impact

asia

both highly industrialized and recently industrialized countries, confucianism, filial piety - belief that children are obligated to respect, obey, and revere their parents, especially the father, emphasis on education

india

hindu and muslim religions, only by 2010 did they make education compulsory for children - high literacy, wide spread child labor, caste system - hindu belief that people are born into a particular caste based on their moral and spiritual conduct in their previous life, a person’s cast then determines their status in Indian society positives - a) family relationships are warm b) fast economic growth expected

latin america

political stability, economic growth, birth rate has declined, educational attainment is increasing

the west

includes Europe, US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, stable, democratic, and affluent, high access to education and occupational opportunities, more leisure time, minority groups disadvantaged in education and employment

adolescence in ancient times

plato and Aristotle believed that adolescent was the third distinct stage of life from ages 14-21, Aristotle believed children are similar to animals, ruled by impulse

adolescence from 1500 to 1890

life cycle service - involved moving out of the family household and into the household of a “master” to whom the young person was in service for a period lasting (typically) 7 years, after industrialization, institutions of social control developed

the age of adolescence (1890-1920)

child labor widespread in the 1800s, adolescence became a team in the late 19th century, new laws restricting child labor and requiring school attendance marked a distinction between adolescence and adulthood

g stanley hall and the study of adolescence - recapitulation

now discredited theory that held that the development of each individual repeats the evolutionary development process of the human species as a whole

storm and stress

theory promoted by hall asserting that adolescence is inevitably a time of mood disruptions, conflict with parents, and antisocial behavior

from adolescence to emerging adulthood

adolescence arrives earlier, median age (menarche) has shifted from 13-15 to 12.5 years, social change not biological, hall designated the age of adolescence as age 24

emerging adulthood

period from roughly ages 18-25 in industrialized countries during which young people become more independent from parents and explore various life possibilities before making enduring commitments

identity explorations

trying out possibilities in love and work, develop an identity - who they are, their capabilities and limitation, their beliefs and values, how they fit into society

instability

residential change

self focus

become more independent, self sufficient, focus on themselves to develop knowledge, skills, and self understanding to prepare for adulthood

feeling in between

transitional period, not quite an adult

possibilies/optimism

little has been decided, marked by optimism and great expectation, have left home but not committed to a new relationship

cross cultural themes of transition to adulthood

legally happens at age 18, markers include accepting responsibility for oneself, making independent decisions, becoming financially independent, in traditional, non Western cultures, adulthood is marked by marriage, also marked by chronological age or physical development, and character qualities such as self control

cultural variations - individualism transition to adulthood

cultural belief system that emphasized the desirability of independence, self sufficiency, and self expression - independent self

cultural variations - collectivism in the transition to adulthood

set of beliefs asserting that it is important for people to mute their individual desires to contribute to the wellbeing and success of the group, includes values of duty and obligations to others - interdependent self

cultural developmental model

study of development within and across cultures in order to understand both what is universal and what is culturally distinctive, structure of developmental periods is affected by culture, we must study child/adolescent development across diverse cults, adolescents can identify with more than one culture

the scientific method

identify a research question, propose a hypothesis, choose a research measurement and a research design, collect data, draw conclusions

ethical research

IRB works to prevent ethical violations and ethical guidelines include protection from physical and psychological harm which may differ by cultures, informed consent prior to participation, confidentiality, deception and debriefing

questionnaires

closed (specific responses) or open ended (self generated responses), closed questions provide quantitative data, information collected in numerical form

interviews

provide qualitative data - not readily quantifiable since not in numerical form, capture individuality and complexity by allows participants to use their own words

observations

naturalistic or structured (in lab setting)

biological measurements

hormonal functioning, brain functioning, genetic basis of development, EEG - measures the electrical activity of the cerebral cortex, fMRI - uses a magnetic field to record changes in blood flow and oxygen use in the brain

reliability

the extent to which measurements generate consistent results - test retest reliability, interrater reliability, if a measurement is unreliable it cannot be valid

validity

the truthfulness or accuracy of a measurement, ecological validity - extent to which there is a fit between the measurement approach and the daily life of the people studied

experimental design

experimental group receives treatment, control group receives no treatment, independent variable - different for the experimental group than control group; variable being manipulated, dependent variable - outcome that is measured to calculate results of the experiment, random assignment assumes equality between the groups before the treatment or manipulation

ethnographic research

involves spending extensive time among the people being studied, usually living among them, learn how people behave in their daily lifestyle, requires a great deal of time, commitment, and sacrifice, results published in a boom - ethnography, potential bias due to personal relationships

case study

detailed examination of a particular person, group, or situation over time, limited generalizability

correlational design

data collected on naturally occurring variables, correlation - a statistical relationship between two variables such that knowing one of the variables make it possible to predict the other can be piste or negative but correlation does not imply causation

cross sectional design

most common developmental research design, gathers information from wide age range at a single time, can be completed in an affordable and timely manner, can only show a correlation between age and the dependent variable - not causation

longitudinal design

follows same persons over time, can focus on how people change over time, examines cohort effects - explanation of group differences among people of different ages based on the fact they grew up in different cohorts or historical periods, takes time, money, and patience, attrition - participants leaving the study